In August 1966, the bodies of two people were found on a hill in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. The banal story unexpectedly turned into one of the main mysteries of the era, when it turned out that experts could not establish the cause of death of men, the police were not able to put forward a single reasoned version of their death, and the men themselves planned to establish contact with some supernatural forces. Strange lead masks were found on their faces, which gave the story its name - "the lead mask case."
Bodies on the hill
On August 17, Miguel Viana and Manuel da Cruz arrived in the town of Niteroi in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. The men went to a local store, bought waterproof raincoats (it rained hard that day) and a bottle of water. In the evening of the same day they were last seen alive. A local security guard saw them drive their car, accompanied by two other men, to Vinten Hill. After that, the car with the two men drove away, and Viana and da Cruz walked up the hill.
The next day, two bodies were found on the hill by a local teenager. He reported this to the police, but because of the heavy downpour, the police decided not to go anywhere. The bodies were re-discovered on August 20. Only then did the police arrive at the hill. A strange picture opened up to their eyes.
Two male bodies in business suits, over which they were wearing raincoats, lay on a kind of bed of cut leaves and branches. On the faces of the men were strange, artisanal lead masks. No sign of a struggle. No weapons. No signs of violence. The police were at a loss.
Investigation
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For several days in a hot and humid environment, the bodies underwent decomposition. The experts were unable to establish the cause of death even after the autopsy. The bodies were not damaged. The toxicological examination also did not reveal the presence of toxic substances.
One of the victims was found to have a note with strange instructions about taking certain capsules and waiting for a signal, after which masks must be put on. However, no capsules were found with the dead, although the water bottle was empty.
A survey of relatives and friends of the victims gave unexpected results. It turned out that both men were very keen on looking for paranormal activity and the supernatural. On the Vinten Hill, they planned to make contact with the higher powers. But what these forces were, no one could say for sure. Some thought it was some kind of perfume. Others say that they are aliens. In any case, the meeting clearly had to be unusual and very important. The wife of one of the victims said that on the eve of the trip, he told her that he was waiting for the most important test, which would confirm or deny everything that he believes in, that is, the supernatural.
A close friend of the deceased, who was in their kind of "cell", confirmed that a few months earlier, the men had tried to create a kind of apparatus for contact with supernatural entities, which exploded during experiments.
The mystical connotation behind this story was entrenched after the testimony of one of the eyewitnesses, who on the night of August 18 saw strange glowing balls over the Vinten hill. He willingly shared this information with journalists.
During the investigation, it turned out that a similar incident had occurred several years earlier in another Brazilian city. Then a man was found on a hill under the same circumstances, who also had a lead mask. With him, similar records were found about the intake of certain capsules. But the most amazing thing is that he was also a radio technician by profession, like the two who died on the Vinten hill. Then the case was not even investigated, writing it off as an accident.
Later, the bodies of the dead were exhumed, but new examinations did not yield anything. The police were never able to put forward an intelligible version of what had happened, and the "lead mask case" became the main criminal mystery in Brazil, similar to the story with the "Dyatlovites" in Russia.
The criminal version
In an attempt to somehow explain what happened from a rational point of view, researchers put forward a criminal version of the death of men. Enterprising criminals could, disguised as ufologists or occultists, establish contact with two wealthy and trusting men. Under the pretext of an important supernatural experience, they convinced them to go to a remote area, where they were euthanized with certain capsules.
While the victims were unconscious, they cleaned their pockets. Perhaps the criminals only stole some of the money, so as not to arouse suspicion and knock the police off the trail. According to the wife of one of the victims, he took a large sum on the trip - three million cruzeiro (about one thousand dollars), informing her of his intention to buy a used car. However, the police found only a few thousand cruzeiro in the pockets of the men.
However, the police officers who did not go to the call on August 18, but showed up there later, could clean out their pockets. Or it could have been done by teenagers who discovered the body.
However, it is worth noting that at least one other person in addition to men could be present on the hill. Branches and leaves for their bed were cut with a knife or machete. But, despite a careful search, no sharp objects were found on the hill. This means that this knife was taken by someone who was present on the hill, but left it before or after the arrival of the men. Do not forget that they were last seen in the company of two more men who later left. But what prevented them from returning and picking pockets later? And when they saw that the men showed no signs of life, they covered up their tracks and left.
Accident
According to this version, there was no crime in the death of men. They just did not calculate with the dosage of the capsules. From the words of relatives and friends, it is known that they took some capsules for several days before leaving. It is possible that for the main experience in their lives, they decided to take a particularly strong dose of the substance, but it turned out to be fatal for both.
Political version
In the mid-60s, a coup d'etat took place in Brazil and the ultra-right military came to power. Death squads were formed from the criminal and political police to carry out extrajudicial executions. At first, only professional criminals were exterminated, but soon the activities of the squadrons were expanded to include the political opposition, especially left-wing activists.
The opposition had their own pirate radio stations, which were periodically destroyed. The victims were radio technicians capable of setting up such an illegal station. Perhaps they were abducted by one of the squadrons, tortured or interrogated with the use of potent psychotropic substances and did not survive. The police, not wanting to get involved with the affairs of the squadrons, withdrew from the investigation, citing a lack of leads.
"Supernatural" version
According to this version, the contactees still managed to establish a connection with some supernatural entities. However, they did not survive this contact. In fact, the only argument in this favor is a statement published in the newspapers by a witness who saw some glowing balls over the hill that evening.
Nevertheless, this version is most popular among fans of the supernatural, paranormal researchers and all sorts of ufologists. The hill of Vinten acquired a cult status from them, Brazilian paranormal hunters come to it to this day, but no unusual incidents have ever happened there.
The Lead Mask Case has become one of the most mysterious incidents in Brazilian history. The surviving masks are still in one of the local police museums. The mystery of the death of Brazilian radio technicians who tried to establish contact with the spirit world is unlikely to ever be solved.
Evgeniy Antonyuk